Kalahari Biltong Beef Jerky

To be honest, getting excited about beef jerky isn’t something we’ve found ourselves doing that much. Strips of beef dredged in salt (sometimes sugar), thrown in a dehydrator, and bagged up for sale. The excitement just isn’t there. But here’s a US company that is using a centuries-old South African method of drying beef, creating Biltong — something akin to a jerky crossed with a fine prosciutto. It looks different, tastes different, and has a wholly different texture than your jerkified truck stop fare.

They’ve got three flavors so far: garlic, original, and peri peri — a mildly spicy African chili pepper. Instead of soy or sugar or maltodextrin or MSG, Kalahari just uses salt and pepper, vinegar, chili powder, and coriander. And instead of a dehydrator, their beef is cut into strips that hang out in a climate controlled room, air drying for eighteen days. It’s then hand-sliced against the grain. The result is a jerky worthy of getting excited about. – Shop Now

Amy Skorheim is a writer living in New Mexico. She spends her time wisely—reading and writing about tech and gear or doing stuff outside. You can find her (albeit not easily) hiking or camping somewhere in the wild.